


Territorial

by elfin



Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M, Off-Screen Dub-Con Blowjob, Potential Triggers, Read the notes!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24934498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfin/pseuds/elfin
Summary: Gibbs may be overly protective when it comes to his team
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Comments: 6
Kudos: 174





	Territorial

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this short fic for weeks. There's a blowjob of dubious consent which isn't explicitly depicted and only referred back to. This could be a potential trigger. I'm no way condoning it. Just don't read if you think this might not be your thing.

**GIBBS**

Okay, so he might have overreacted. He tries not to take his frustrations out on the wood; it hasn’t done anything to deserve that. It’s his own damn fault. So, he’s got trust issues; he has a right to them. He’s earned them. 

And, yes, he may be overly protective when it comes to his team. He’s put time and effort into them. He doesn’t like other people muscling in, putting them in harm’s way. That’s his job, and they in turn trust him to keep them as safe as is humanly possible. Fornell side-stepping him, going over his head because he knows Gibbs will say no, is unacceptable. Vance should know better too. 

He’s possessive of his team, but he knows that when it comes to Tony, he’s downright territorial. Fornell treats DiNozzo like an asset and Gibbs hates that because it turns his best agent into a pawn in their ongoing power game, which in turn puts him in danger.

Interagency ops are never as tight as they should be. Too many egos, too many moving parts, too many people thinking they’re in charge. Predictably, it leaves a void, a gap through which important details slip. Like Fornell’s target also being a person of interest in an open DC homicide investigation into the murder of a male prostitute. 

As far as Gibbs was concerned, Fornell and Vance had literally handed DiNozzo to a killer. They’d only intervened when the bastard had his hands around Tony’s throat and his dick in his mouth, intent on making him his a second victim.

Gibbs had left the scene as soon as they’d made the arrest. If he’d stayed, the chances of still having a job in the morning would have been seriously low. 

He’d made his protests known in MTAC when Fornell had made his request earlier in the day. In front of Vance, Tony, McGee, Ziva, the two op techs…. He’d overreacted for sure and he knew Tony had taken it badly, personally. All Vance had said was that his reservations were noted, but if DiNozzo was happy he could pull off the pretence, he was free to do so. It was only one night after all, they weren’t asking him to live a lie, he was simply bait.

Gibbs hated that word.

He knew Tony had interpreted his objections as not having faith in his ability to do the job. At the time it had felt like the better option. He knew Tony would run headlong into any kind of danger as long as Gibbs believed in him. That was the catch-22. He did believe in him. He did have faith in him. He just didn’t like putting him at unnecessary risk. The job was dangerous, the chances of them making it home at night low enough without skewing the odds even more.

He’d told himself he would have gone just as berserk if Fornell had asked for McGee, or Ziva, or Abby. He wasn’t one hundred percent certain that was true, but it made him feel a little less guilty about the whole situation. 

He heard the front door open and close, recognised the footfall across the hall and on the basement steps. He glanced up. Tony wore jeans and a blue wool sweater with the collar turned up; back to his old self. His hair was still damp, presumably from the shower. He’d been growing it out, much like he used to style it years ago, when Kate was still around to tease him about it. 

He watched as Tony sat halfway down and gazed at him through the bannisters. 

‘You okay?’ Gibbs didn’t need to see the bruises around his agent’s neck to know they were there. He’d had worse for sure. But the other thing, the assault, he wasn’t sure how that Tony would deal with that. 

Tony inclined his head slightly, expression quirky. ‘I’m just peachy, Boss.’ The sarcasm was there but his usual cheeky cheeriness was understandably absent. He was serious when he said, ‘I came to ask you the same thing.’

With a self-depreciating roll of his eyes, Gibbs put down the sander and leaned against the boat, both hands flat on the skeleton keel. ‘Aw, shit.’ He took a deep breath and straightened, tilting his head to look at Tony. ‘I’m sorry.’

Tony’s expression changed to one of mock astonishment. Gibbs knew he deserved it. ‘Did you just apologise?’

‘Yeah. I owe you that. I shouldn’t have said what I said in MTAC.’

‘Which bit?’

‘All of it.’

‘Well, I don’t think you need to apologise for _all_ of it. I mean, the part when you declared I was yours and everyone else should keep their hands off me was really quite sweet. Very romantic, in a cro magnon man sort of way.’ 

He could feel the heat of embarrassment in his face. ‘You have every right to be angry.’

‘I’m not angry.’ Tony’s voice was all kinds of gentle. ‘Surprised. Slightly dumbfounded. I thought you had a little more faith in me.’

‘I do.’

‘Really? Then what was that all about, Boss?’

‘Just because you’re capable, doesn’t mean you’re dispensable.’

‘It’s my job.’

‘No.’ He was over to the bottom step in two strides. ‘No, it isn’t. You’re not Fornell’s lapdog. You’re an NCIS agent. My agent.’

He watched Tony rub left side of his throat gingerly. ‘If it’s any consolation, I don’t think he’ll ask again. He was even more apologetic than you. I think he feels guilty for how it went down.’

‘So he damn well should.’

‘If you’d stayed, you could probably have got a grovelling apology too.’

‘I was worried that if I stayed, I might shoot someone.’

Tony did smile at that. ‘I’m touched, Boss, honestly.’

‘You shouldn’t be. I acted like an ass.’

‘No one’s ever cared enough to stick up for me before. It’s sort of nice, knowing you do.’ Gibbs frowned, looking at him searchingly, but Tony was already changing the subject. ‘I just came over to make sure we’re good.’

Gibbs couldn’t suppress his sigh of frustration. He climbed up to sit on the step one down from Tony. ‘No reason for us not to be, none of it was aimed at you. I’m sorry if it felt that way.’

‘You need to stop saying sorry.’

‘Why?’

Tony rubbed at his bruises again, wincing at the touch of his own fingers. ‘Because you’re freaking me out, Boss.’

With a smile of amusement, Gibbs nodded. ‘Show me your throat.’

‘It’s nothing, honestly.’

‘Show me.’

He could always rely on Tony complying with a direct order from him. Even under the worst circumstances, Tony would do exactly what he was told when it was rapped out as a command. Obligingly, he turned the collar of his sweater down while Gibbs hitched himself up and leaned in to slip a finger into the soft neckline, pulling it gently away from Tony’s skin. The wide bruises were already a livid purple; four shadows on each side of his throat and two deep impressions over his windpipe.

‘Have you been checked over?’

‘Ducky took a look before I left. I’m fine.’

Gibbs drew his hand back. ‘What about the other thing?’

‘Other thing?’ Tony looked genuinely confused. ‘What other thing?’

‘The assault.’

‘The…? Oh. Right.’ He looked away, at the boat, at the floor, anywhere but at Gibbs. ‘You know, I knew what it was going in, Boss.’ His voice dropped to a murmur. ‘I was on my knees before he started to strangle me.’ 

Gibbs processed that, the anger seeping back. ‘Did Fornell ask you to do that?’ 

Tony leaned back slightly, at least glancing at his boss. ‘He… implied something along those lines might be required.’

‘That fucking bastard.’ 

‘In their defence, they didn’t know the guy would try to kill me.’

‘That is not a defence.’ Gibbs’ vision actually blurred, and it was a second before he realised Tony was trying to get to his feet. He wrapped a firm hand around his shin. ‘Not angry with you.’ He spoke deliberately, making sure he got his point across. ‘None of this is on you.’

Tony’s voice was almost inaudible, but Gibbs caught the words, ‘I don’t want you thinking any less of me.’

He let go slowly and raised his hand to the back of Tony’s head. He saw him brace for the inevitable slap. Instead, Gibbs pushed his fingers into the dark hair and stroked the curve of his scalp.

‘It would take a lot for me to change my opinion of you, Tony.’

‘Couldn’t think any less of me if you tried, Boss?’

Gibbs rolled his eyes. He rose up and dropped a chaste little kiss to Tony’s forehead, feeling him freeze in place. ‘I think the world of you,’ he murmured. ‘Remember that, just don’t let it go to your head.’ When he sat back down, wide eyes were staring at him in disbelief. He couldn’t help but smile. ‘Should have told you that a long time ago.’

Judging by his expression, Tony couldn’t actually believe Gibbs was saying it now. He stood, holding out a hand. Tony took it, still looking dazed. He turned to climb the steps and Gibbs put his palm against the the small of his back, flicking the basement power off when they reached the top. 

‘What time is it, anyway?’

That seemed to snap Tony back to the here and now. ‘A little after two, Boss. I should get home, try to get some sleep before the alarm goes off.’

Gibbs used his hand to guide him towards the stairs. ‘Stay here tonight. No alarm for you. You’ve earned a day off. Besides, I need a fake alibi for when I shoot Fornell in the morning.’

At the stop of the stairs, Tony turned towards the guest bedroom before Gibbs put his hand on his shoulders and directed him towards the master bedroom. ‘I want you where I can keep an eye on you. Knowing your luck, you’re likely to fall out of bed and crack your skull open on your shoes.’

‘I am capable of sleeping in a bed without injuring myself, Boss,’ Tony complained around a yawn; obviously too wiped out to put up much of a protest. He sat heavily on the edge of the bed, kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks. Reassured he was going to stay put, Gibbs went to the bathroom and by the time he got back, Tony was already asleep, lying on his side facing the door, still fully clothed.

Gibbs turned off the light, stripped off his jeans and sweater, and lay down on the other side of the bed. He listened to the other man breathing for a few long minutes, before he turned onto his side and reached out in the darkness to touch light fingertips to the back of Tony’s head. 

‘You will never again prostitute yourself for anyone. And if anyone asks you to, I swear to God, I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

Tony made a sound, although whether it was a ‘yes, Boss’ or just a grunt in his sleep, Gibbs wasn’t sure. In the morning, he’d make him swear an oath because honestly, he really didn’t want to have hurt any of his superiors if he could help it. 

~

Ziva and McGee sat up like Meerkats when Gibbs swept passed their desks in the morning, coffee in each hand. 

_‘Two coffee morning, better watch out.’ _He could practically hear the words spoken in low tones by the one member of his team who wasn’t there to say them.__

__‘How’s Tony, Boss?’ McGee asked first, concern clear in his tone, in his expression. Evidently news of the previous night’s suboptimal interagency operation had made it into the office before he had._ _

__‘He’s Tony, McGee. He’ll be okay.’_ _

__He’d barely finished speaking when the same question was asked again, by a breathless Abby looking like she’d run up from the lab._ _

__‘He’s fine!’_ _

__She wasn’t as easy to convince as McGee. ‘If he’s fine, then where is he?’_ _

__‘My place. Bed.’_ _

__That gave him time, finally, to take off his coat, settle behind his desk and drink his coffee while the three of them stood looking at one another doing goldfish impressions._ _

__‘Don’t you have work to do?’ He suggested eventually._ _

__It meant McGee and Ziva turned their attentions back to whatever it was they were supposed to be doing. Abby, predictably, was less easy to placate. She closed in on his desk and leaned over his screen. ‘Where is he really?’_ _

__‘He really is at my place, Abs. In my bed. Sleeping.’_ _

__She glared at him for another couple of seconds before her eyes lit up and she broke into a gigawatt grin. ‘Gibbs! That’s so great!’_ _

__‘I don’t mean….’ He trailed off. The way she was looking at him, the truth in her eyes, he sighed softly. ‘Not a word to anyone, Abs. Not until we’ve had a chance to work this out.’_ _

__She drew a cross over her heart with the tip of her index finger, then swiped it across her lips in a ‘sealed’ gesture before skipping off back to the lab. Literally._ _

__Gibbs emptied one of his coffees and took the other with him up to Vance’s office. He breezed by his secretary and opened the director’s door without so much as a knuckle rap. Despite that, Vance didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see him and waved a hand at one of the chairs in front of his desk._ _

__Gibbs didn’t sit. He put his coffee on the director’s desk, hands flat either side of it, leaned forward and growled, ‘If a member of my team is loaned out to any other agency without my permission ever again, I’ll resign.’ Vance regarded him steadily. ‘If anyone ever suggests to one of my agents that they may need to prostitute themselves as part of an undercover operation, I’ll resign. And then I’ll shoot you.’_ _

__‘Any of your agents?’ Vance asked softly. ‘Or just DiNozzo?’_ _

__Gibbs felt last night’s anger rising again. ‘He’s not a Goddamn rent boy.’_ _

__The director leaned back. ‘Message received.’_ _

__‘Good.’ He straightened, picked up his coffee and headed for the door._ _

__‘You know, Gibbs, if DiNozzo was in a serious relationship, it would be against regulation for anyone to approach him with any such suggestion.’_ _

__Gibbs rolled his eyes, but didn’t pause on his way out._ _

__~_ _

__**TONY** _ _

__

__He heard the door open, slam shut, then, ‘Tony, you still here?’_ _

__He called up from the basement, reaching for the small television remote to mute the sound. ‘Down here.’_ _

__Gibbs appeared feet first, trotting down the wooden steps._ _

__‘You okay?’_ _

__‘I’m fine, Boss.’ His smile was genuine enough but he couldn’t seem to muster his usual sparkling self. ‘You’re home early.’ A stray thought popped to mind. ‘You didn’t shoot anyone did you?’_ _

__Gibbs shook his head and dropped onto the couch next to him. ‘Threatened to, if Vance ever pulls a stunt like that again. Same goes for you, if you ever agree to anything like that again.’_ _

__Tony sighed, sitting forward, letting his shoulders drop. This needed to be cleared up or they’d never move beyond it. ‘Boss… Jethro…. It wasn’t my first BJ.’ He honestly didn’t think he was telling Gibbs anything the man hadn’t already worked out, probably years ago. ‘It didn’t mean anything.’_ _

__Sitting back with a half-smile, Gibbs murmured, ‘Come on, Tony. Every blowjob means something.’_ _

__How did he make this more obvious? ‘I’m not talking about… getting them.’_ _

__‘Neither am I.’_ _

__That… was a surprise. Tony glanced sideways at Gibbs, looking to see if he was serious despite knowing this was something this ex-Marine wouldn’t kid about with. The usual underlying tension noticed up between them and Tony found his gaze held, both of them unwilling to back down._ _

__‘O-kay.’ He spoke deliberately, carefully. ‘Well, then, you know it’s not a big deal.’_ _

__Gibbs looked as if he was considering that. ‘So if I got down on my knees now, pulled out your dick, and sucked on it until you begged me to let you come, that wouldn’t be a big deal?’ Tony was hard before the sentence finished. He opened his mouth, brain scrambling to form a verbal response as he tried surreptitiously to cover up his physical one._ _

__‘Well… obviously, it would be. You’re… you.’_ _

__‘And if you got down on your knees…?’_ _

__‘Like I said, obviously. You’re you.’_ _

__Gibbs nodded slowly, as if processing new information. Tony couldn’t imagine any of this was news to him. In the beginning, he’d imagined his boss was some kind of mindreader, knowing stuff he couldn’t possibly know. Over time, he learned it was because Gibbs is so very good at reading people, and in the time they’ve spent together, he had to have read the truth behind Tony’s act._ _

__‘Do you want to?’_ _

__‘Do I want to what?’ Because there was no way Gibbs was asking what he seemed to be asking. Except that going by the pointed tilt of the man’s head downwards, and his eyes settling on Tony’s crotch, maybe he was. Still, it was Gibbs. ‘Is there an answer I can give that won’t get me fired?’_ _

__At least he laughed. ‘There’s no answer that will get you fired. It was a serious question, Tony. I don’t want to do anything that could be construed as sexual harassment. There’s always the chance I’ve misread the situation.’ Tony made sure his expression made it clear that wasn’t the case. ‘Whatever your answer, it won’t change our working relationship or our friendship.’_ _

__‘In that case, Boss-‘_ _

__‘Jethro.’_ _

__‘In that case, Jethro… pretty much all I’ve thought about for the last eight years is getting down on my knees for you. So yeah, it would mean something. It would mean… everything.’_ _

__Gibbs’ smile was one Tony wasn’t ever going to forget. He was going to spend the rest of this life trying to put that smile on the man’s face every single day. ‘Before we do this, I need… I have ground rules.’_ _

__Tony laughed. ‘You don’t say? Can I guess? Rule number one… you don’t share. If we’re exchanging blowjobs, there’s no exchanging blowjobs with anyone else.’_ _

__‘Kinda hoping we’ll be doing more than that, Tony.’_ _

__Tony nodded. ‘If I promise to be okay with at least ninety percent of all your rules, and say we can discuss the other ten, can I give you a blowjob right now?’_ _

__Going by the hungry expression on Gibbs’ face, now suited him just fine. Then again…_ _

__‘How about we start with kissing and see where that takes us?_ _

__Tony had a shrewd idea where it would take them, but he was game._ _


End file.
